UAVs, and particularly UAV copters, for everyday consumers have traditionally been limited to entertainment as toys or as hobbyist collector items. Recently, however, UAV copters have been used for personal photography and videography. A UAV copter can be equipped with a portable power source and an image capturing apparatus, such as a camera or other types of sensors. For example, a photographer or a videographer can use a UAV copter to photograph or film athletes participating in outdoor activities when there are no overhead obstructions. The UAV copter can also be used to document special occasions, such as weddings, engagement proposals, and other activities that may occur in an open field. Photography and videography applications require instruments that are highly portable. However, conventional UAV copter tends to be bulky and difficult to transport.
A UAV copter tends to consume electrical charge of its battery pack at a high rate. The UAV copter can be equipped with a portable power source (e.g., a battery pack) and an image capturing apparatus, such as a camera. For example, a UAV copter carrying a high definition (HD) video camera utilizing a conventional battery pack may run out of charge within 30 minutes to one hour. A photography or videography session, under most scenarios, last for a much longer period of time than an hour. Hence, frequent recharging of the battery pack or swapping of the battery pack is a necessary inconvenience for many UAV copter applications.
Conventional UAV copters are manually controlled by an operator via a remote control device. This necessitates that the operator of a UAV copter and a target subject of a photo-shoot by the UAV copter cannot be the same person. A conventional UAV copter often alienates the operator from the activity that the operator is trying to capture. For example, an operator who is a friend of the bride and groom at a wedding, cannot participate in the wedding that the operator is trying to document. For another example, an operator who is capturing snowboarding stunts in a ski resort cannot be snowboarding while operating the UAV copter.
A conventional UAV copter, especially a conventional consumer UAV copter, is calibrated on the ground surface. The conventional UAV copter lifts-off when it receives an instruction to apply additional downward thrust from a remote controller coupled to the UAV copter. This process necessitates delays whenever the UAV copter lands but needs to re-launch within a short period time. For example, when filming athletes, a UAV copter may need to be in air upon a moment's notice. Slowly accelerating upwards from the ground surface may delay the filmmaking process and miss important moments that would otherwise be captured.
Conventional UAV copters are manually controlled by an operator via a remote control device. This necessitates that the operator of a UAV copter and a target subject of a photo-shoot by the UAV copter cannot be the same person. A conventional UAV copter often alienates the operator from the activity that the operator is trying to capture. For example, an operator who is a friend of the bride and groom at a wedding, cannot participate in the wedding that the operator is trying to document. For another example, an operator who is capturing snowboarding stunts in a ski resort cannot be snowboarding while operating the UAV copter.
The figures depict various embodiments of this disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.